BAUDELAIRE (Charles). Autograph letter signed Charles to Colonel Aupick. [Paris], Friday [c. 18 June 1839]. 4 pp. in-8, addressed p. [4] to M. Aupick at M. Warney's in Bourbonne-les-Bains; postmarks Paris 29 June and Bourbonne 1 July 1839. A fine and interesting letter sent by the young Baudelaire to his stepfather Jacques Aupick shortly after his dismissal from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, in which he describes his life at the boarding house run by the parents of Ernest-Charles Lasègue, the future alienist who was his philosophy tutor at the time, in Saint-Sulpice, in terms that are still very positive - for, by July, this living environment would evoke for him "nothing but indolence, sullenness and boredom". I thank you very much for the letter you have just written me; it is so kind and affectionate; frankly, the reason why I have been putting off writing to you for the last eight days is that I haven't done any work for a few days, and as I have to tell you about what I am doing, I thought that before writing to you I would get back to work so that I have something good to say about myself. But you scold me so kindly and indulgently in your letter that, my goodness, it would be better to admit that than to put off writing to you again or to write a lying letter. And don't worry, the first time I write to you I'll have something good to say about myself. You ask me about the new world in which I live; that's what I've noticed. Mr Lasègue is becoming better known all the time; he combines unflappable cheerfulness and gentleness with great moral strength. To give you an idea, I will tell you that, by his own admission, he has tried everything, read books on many languages and many sciences, but that he knows nothing completely. Mme Lasègue, whom I know much better, seems to me a simple, cheerful woman, strong of soul, of high reason, spiritual and kind. She gets up in the morning, does all the housework herself, and while cooking or sweeping, sings, laughs, talks perfectly, sometimes mocking and a little bit biting. There is also a child of thirteen or fourteen here whom M. Lasègue has taken into his home to make him work; he is Mme Fayard's nephew; sometimes in the evening I give him an English lesson. Sometimes in the evening I give him an English lesson. It's possible that I'll take the French essay competition. You know it's not much, but as it pleases Mum, I'd be happy to go. You are kind enough to ask me what plans I have; yes, I have plans, you know I always have plans, I'm a planner; there are times when I think about the future, and then I'm full of things I'd like to tell to those who love me; but allow me to put that off for another day; Mr Lasègue is going to come home and ask me what I think of a book I haven't touched. Tomorrow I'll write to Mum. I thank you for telling me about your health; if your suffering can turn out well, I'm almost glad you're suffering; besides, I still hope, even if it takes a miracle to cure you. Small loss in the margin of the second leaf, due to the letter being unsealed. Baudelaire, Correspondance (Pléiade), I, 72 - C. Pichois and J. Ziegler, Baudelaire, 1987, pp. 114-116.